It was in February of 1990 that I first became aware of Ed Decker, the founder of Saints Alive in Jesus in Issaquah, WA. A contact in the Wiccan Information Network that I was part of then sent me the transcript of an interview of Decker by Marlin Maddoux of the fundamentalist Christian talk show "Point of View" which had occurred in 1986. I noted that Decker made some rather bizarre statements about the practices of Mormons, Freemasons, and Wiccans which appeared to be based on the materials of Bill Schnoebelen (a fraud that I told you about in a Witch Hunts article back in 2002: http://www.witchvox.com/whs/kerr_schnoebelen1.html). The contact who had supplied me this information wrote to Decker, but Decker did not reply himself. Instead Decker got Schnoebelen to reply. As you will soon see, Decker and Schnoebelen are still very closely linked. Decker’s Saints Alive web site can be found at: http://www.saintsalive.com/

Decker reports that he was a Mormon for 20 years before deciding to become a fundamentalist Christian. His Saints Alive in Jesus ministry was formed to “witness Jesus to those lost in Mormonism and other cults”. Mormons and Freemasons are the primary targets of Decker’s crusade. However the influence of his friend and co-author David Benoit, Schnoebelen and others have influenced Decker to try to link his primary targets to anything he considers occult. As a result, his anti Masonic and anti Mormon rants are full of misinformation about Pagan spirituality.

Decker is a prolific writer. He edited The Dark Side of Freemasonry and authored the books Understanding Islam, Decker’s Complete Book on Mormonism, The Question of Freemasonry, To Moroni With Love, What You Need To Know About Masons, Freemasonry: What You Need to Know Quick Reference Guide, Mormonism: What You Need To Know Quick Reference Guide, Fast Facts on False Teachings (with Ron Carlson), and The God Makers (with Dave Hunt). The last book led to a series of anti Mormon videos: The God Makers, The Mormon Dilemma, and The Temple of the God Makers.

In May of 1990 I received an awful Saints Alive in Jesus pamphlet authored by Schnoebelen: “Halloween: Tis The Season To Be Evil”, which I described in my aforementioned Witch Hunts article on Schnoebelen. Schnoebelen is still writing for Decker. The Saints Alive in Jesus newsletter of April 1, 2002 featured an article by Schnoebelen, “Somewhere Under The Rainbow”, attacking the New Age.[1]

In “Somewhere Under The Rainbow”, Schnoebelen complains about how “the New Age” recognizes prophets other than Jesus and disputes the views that others have of Jesus himself. He describes “Eastern religions or shamanism” as “a fancy word for witchcraft” and complains that “it is the spiritual dimension of these practices, in addition to their occult origins, which makes them dangerous.”[2] He lists these practices as: “Yoga and the Martial Arts: Rooted in Hinduism or Taoism, both Oriental, pagan religions. Involves opening the soul up to supernatural power called siddhis, prana or chi, even at intermediate levels. Tantric yoga (sexual yoga), Raja Yoga (meditation), and internal martial arts like Aikido, Hsing I and Pa Kua Kung Fu or Tai Chi are especially dangerous.”[3] Schnoebelen goes on to list “Occult Healing Practices: Homeopathy, hypnosis (including subliminals), pendulums, magnetic healing, polarity therapy, iridology, acupuncture, the use of crystals or pyramids... They are all rooted in pagan/occult world views.”[4] Schnoebelen equates the concept of globalism with the Christian conspiracy theories of one world government that we’ve seen repeated throughout my Witch Hunts series. Schnoebelen claims that Alice Bailey’s book Education in the New Age[5] lists the New Age agenda to indoctrinate children. Schnoebelen alleges that Bailey’s list includes the following objectives:

“Children should be trained to accept a One-world global government and culture without question.

“Full implementation of the anti-Christian educational philosophies of John Dewey, but with a more eastern metaphysical approach.

“Destruction of the ideals of patriotism and national pride, helping kids become "world citizens.

“Hinduism and other pagan religions must be emphasized as attempts are made to blend them into Western civilization.

“Orthodox Christianity must be demeaned and declared obsolete to the children, while lifting up the New Age "One World" religion.

“The New Age pluralistic religion (All paths lead to God - all religions are equally valid) will be taught as the only acceptable belief system, excluding Jesus' unique claims.

“Adolescents will be encouraged to force these doctrines on their parents and rebel if the parents do not cooperate.

“Essential Christian doctrines like hell, judgment or even heaven are to be mocked and denied. Rather, karma and reincarnation should be taught.

“Permissive methods of discipline will be fostered, and concepts such as sin and guilt are felt to be unevolved and counter-productive.

“Children are taught that death is not an enemy to be feared or fought off, but rather is to be embraced as part of ‘the Plan.’

“They are also to be taught that people who do not accept the New Age teachings (i.e. Bible-believers) are an evolutionary "drag" on humanity and must either capitulate or be killed like a bacterial infection.

“The model of the traditional family and its sexual mores must be discarded, and loyalty to one's family must be replaced by loyalty to the world.”[6]

Of course this sounds an awful lot like the sort of agenda that some extremist Christians would like to employ to stamp out anything other than their denomination of Christianity. Schnoebelen goes on to complain that “Dee Dickinson, the director of New Horizons for Learning, ... a member of President Bush's White House Task Force on Innovative Learning... has helped put together a graduate program in Education at Antioch University (a teachers' college!) in cooperation with the Washington Education Association... [which] includes subjects like astrology and tapping the human potential.”[7] “A frequent lecturer at Antioch is Miriam Starhawk, ” Schnoebelen gripes, “one of the leading spokeswomen for Wicca ("white" witchcraft). She is a witch!”[8]

Schnoebelen claims that David Spangler of the Lorian Foundation “is one of the top men in the world in the New Age movement, and has taught that no one will be allowed to enter the New Age unless he or she takes a Luciferic initiation…When man entered the pathway of self, he entered into a great creative adventure, of learning the meaning of divinity by accepting himself. The being that helps him reach that point is Lucifer, the angel of man's evolution…Lucifer is an agent of God's love…Christ is the same force as Lucifer…Lucifer prepares man for the experience of Christhood. Lucifer works within each of us to bring us to wholeness as we move into the New Age.”[9] Of course Spangler is using an entirely different interpretation of Lucifer (in accordance with the meaning of his name: “bringer of light”) than Schnoebelen, who is doing what many of his colleagues do, and simply equating Lucifer with Satan.

Schnoebelen’s bibliography for “Somewhere Under The Rainbow” includes many works that will be familiar to regular readers of my Witch Hunts column, including:

Josh McDowell, Evidence That Demands a Verdict, Here's Life, 1979.

Tal Brooke, When The World Will Be As One, Harvest House, Eugene, OR., 1989, p.20.

Another Schnoebelen article in this April 2002 Saints Alive newsletter is “The Goat of Mendes or Baphomet”.[10] This is presented as a “copy of a letter sent to an inquirer asking for the origins of the Masonic ties to it.”[11] You won’t find Schnoebelen’s name until the end of the letter. Schnoebelen begins by explaining the letter was forwarded to him by his publisher, Chick Publications (see my Witch Hunts article on Jack Chick and his publishing house: http://www.witchvox.com/whs/kerr_chick1.html). Schnoebelen describes himself as the author of the Chick tract “The Curse of Baphomet” and the author of Masonry: Beyond the Light. Schnoebelen claims to have been a “former 32 degree Mason”.[12]

Schnoebelen cites “Masonic writer Manly P. Hall”, claiming that Manly described Baphomet as “another name for the satanic ‘Goat of Mendez’.”[13] “The Goat of Mendez is, of course, ” Schnoebelen tells us, “the god of the witches. (Mendez is another spelling of Mendes, a city of ancient Egypt where fertility worship-Ba'al worship-was practiced).”[14]

Regular readers of this series will recognize the Goat of Mendes as an entity that repeatedly makes his way into fundamentalist hate literature of this sort. Mendes is a contraction of the Greek name Mendesius, given to the kingdom of Lower Egypt. The God of Pa-bi-neb-tat (“the dwelling of the Lord of Spirit, Lord of Tat”), the principal city of Mendes, was Nesa-Bi-Neb-Tat, represented as a man with the head of a ram. This deity was later associated with Ra, the Egyptian Sun God, the ram headed man becoming a symbol of Ra. The Goat of Mendes subsequently appeared in Occidental Magical literature: In the magical system of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn the Goat of Mendes is a mythical figure mentioned in the Rite of the Pentagram and the Five Paths. Contrary to what Schnoebelen asserts here, Baal is a Phoenician deity and was never worshipped in Egypt, nor is Baal connected to the Goat of Mendes.

In modern Christian and Satanic literature the Devil is depicted as a man with goat attributes so it was perhaps inevitable that these religious groups should interpret the Goat of Mendes as a Satanic symbol. The Satanists, in turn, adopted this symbol as their own from the Christian misinterpretation. For example, the Goat of Mendes is described as an aspect of the Devil that is half man and half goat in Anton LaVey's Satanic Bible.

Schnoebelen certainly subscribes to this view. “This god, also known as the Horned God, ” Schnoebelen goes on to tell us, “is evidently the oldest fertility god in human history. His representation is found on paintings from cavemen in Ariége, France. Nimrod, the founder of Baëal [sic] worship, is often represented wearing a horned headdress. The leader of the most powerful occult/Masonic organization in the world (the Ordo Templi Orientis-Order of Eastern Templars), Kenneth Grant, says that Baphomet actually means Bapho-Mitras-son of Mithras. Mithras was the bull-god (Bull = Ba'al?) worshipped in the Roman empire about the time of Christ. Again, the Horned God of witchcraft.”[15]

Regular readers of this column will recognize the nonsense about Nimrod and Baal: This myth is another common feature of conspiracy literature of this sort. Schnoebelen later tries to cover himself by stating that “Ba'al was not actually called ‘Baphomet’ until well after the time of Christ.”[16] Precisely. The people calling him this are people like Schnoebelen. Baal and Baphomet are two entirely different mythological figures. I told you about Baphomet in my recent Witch Hunts article on symbols. Baphomet is a bisexual idol or spiritual symbol, usually with goat attributes, that the Knights Templar were accused of worshipping in the 14th Century CE. There are several theories about how this name was derived. Some suggest that Baphomet is simply a corruption of Mohammed, a theory probably first advanced by the Crusaders who considered the Islamic faith demonic. Some say that it comes from the Arabic “abu-fihamat” (“father of wisdom”). Some say that it is from the phrase “Baphe Meteos” (“baptism of Metis”), Metis being a Greek Goddess of knowledge. Others suggest that Baphomet is “Tem ohp ab” backwards, this being an abbreviation for the expression “Templi omium hominum pacis abbas” (“the father of the temple of peace of all men”). Schnoebelen is making a weak attempt to draw a connection between Baal and Baphomet based on Grant’s interpretation.

Schnoebelen recommends that the reader “get the book, THE TWO BABYLONS by Rev. Hislop. It will exhaustively deal with this entire line of research, from a Biblical Christian perspective.”[17] This is an anti-Catholic book that we’ve seen many others that I’ve written about in this series cite as a reference.

Schnoebelen writes to this person that even though he can provide a number of documents to refute Masonic beliefs, “Masons will still not believe you.”[18] Schnoebelen urges this person to “pray for them; that the spiritual darkness over their eyes might be broken by the power of the Cross. You need to assert your authority in Jesus Christ and follow the mandate of 2Cor. 10:4-5: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)”.[19] Schnoebelen describes Freemasons as “anti-Biblical”.[20]

Another article by Schnoebelen in the April 2002 Saints Alive newsletter is “Freemasonry: The Witchcraft Connection”.[21] In this article Schnoebelen attempts to discredit Freemasonry by arguing that “The nature and character of the Lodge’s deepest theological underpinnings are rooted in Witchcraft and Paganism.”[22] Schnoebelen screws up immediately, referring to “Raymond Buckland’s Popular Candle-Burning.” I wonder if Schnoebelen has actually ever read Buckland’s book, since the title is actually Practical Candle Burning.[23] Schnoebelen notes that some of Buckland’s candle spells used psalms, and asks the question “Even though those rituals were full of Psalms, were they still Witchcraft?”[24]He answers his own question, revealing his distaste of anything Wiccan: “the presence of those elements cannot somehow ‘sanctify’ what is essentially a Pagan ritual full of Witchcraft overtones.”[25]

The gist of Schnoebelen’s article is that there are similarities between some Wiccan and Masonic practices (there are). Schnoebelen notes that Wiccan founders like Gardner (who Schnoebelen cites as an example) were Freemasons and incorporated some Masonic elements into their practice (which is true). However, this leads Schnoebelen into an argument that the reason Wiccans borrowed some elements of Masonic practices was because Masonry descended from even older practices that were Satanic witchcraft. Schnoebelen lists Aleister Crowley as a founder of Wicca, which is errant nonsense. “There is a real reason for this strong affinity between Masonry and Witchcraft, ” Schnoebelen claims, “It is because the Lodge is plugged into an international network of Witchcraft—a hierarchy of evil.”[26] Having made the argument that Wicca is a modern religion derived in part from Freemasonry, Schnoebelen then contradicts himself, claiming that “Witches 2, 000 years ago were doing the same things that Masons are doing today. Masonic writers boast of this (although they don’t use the word "Witch, " they talk about "mystery religions, " but it is the same thing).”[27] You can’t have it both ways, Bill.

“Even most polytheistic Witches today, ” Schnoebelen goes on to tell us, “acknowledge that ultimately there is one supreme deity somewhere. The popular saying by 20th century master occultist Dion Fortune (Violet Firth) speaks to this: ‘All Gods are one God, all Goddesses are one Goddess, and there is but one Initiator.’ Pressed, you will find that most knowledgeable Witches will reveal that the ‘one Initiator’ is Lucifer, who is the Light-Bringer, the Illuminator, and the sun-deity. He is not felt to be a devil-figure by Wiccans, but only the consort of the Great Mother Goddess.” Obviously Schnoebelen wants us to equate Lucifer with Satan: This is a variation on the tired arguments he has used for years. You’ll read earlier variations on this in my article on him earlier in this series.

Schnoebelen, like so many others that I’ve written about in this series, claims Wicca and Freemasonry have “Additional associations... with the dangerously subversive Illuminati Ordnen of Adam Weishaupt in the 18th century.”[28] “The ‘All-Seeing Eye’ of the Masons is, of course, ” Schnoebelen tells us, “an occult symbol.15 Its use on the Great Seal of the United States is not without significance either (see the back of any dollar bill). You will note that the ‘Eye’ is there perched atop an incomplete pyramid with the date (in Roman numerals) of 1776 A.D. at the bottom. The year 1776 is also the year that Adam Weishaupt founded the Illuminati! Then realize that the trapezoid (what the unfinished pyramid really is) is a most significant symbol in Satanism.16 The symbol on that seal is actually a metaphor for the oppressive hierarchy which reigns over the Masonic lodge, and by extension, over much of U.S. government; and the ‘Eye’ symbolizes Lucifer’s dominion over it.”[29] This is the same inanity about Illuminati conspiracies that we saw Joseph “Doc” Marquis engaging in earlier in this series (see my article on Marquis: http://www.witchvox.com/whs/kerr_marquis_1a.html). Of course these aren’t the meanings assigned to these symbols by the founders of the United States.

“While all levels of Masonry have their share of Witches;” Schnoebelen tell us, “the Palladium, the Illuminati, the Ancient rites and the Supreme Council are especially likely to have them, in one form or another.”[30] The Palladists (Order of the Palladium) where a short lived Order that appeared in Paris in 1737. It had two degrees: Adelph and Companion of Ulysses. Women were initiated into a companion order called Sisters of Penelope. The motto of the Palladists apparently was "Je sais aimer" ("I know how to love"). The Palladists were dissolved by the police a few years after its foundation, probably due to pressure from the church over a false claim by the Palladists that Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambrai, had written its rituals and statutes. Despite the fact that the Palladists no longer exist, people like Schnoebelen still claim that the Palladists are a modern Satanic cult.

The idea that the Palladists were a Satanic cult dates back to a book in 1892, The Devil in the 19th Century, in which the French author, a mysterious Dr. Bataille, claimed that Freemasons were in fact devout Satanists, based in Charleston, South Carolina. He alleged that they performed animal sacrifices and had a direct telephone line hooked up to Hell, through which their leaders spoke to Lucifer!

In 1897 Gabriel Jogand, a French Journalist, publicly admitted that he was "Dr. Bataille" and that he had written The Devil in the 19th Century as a practical joke. Arthur Lyons states: "The stories recounted by Dr. Bataille were backed up by another mysterious figure, one Diana Vaughan, in the book published in 1895 entitled Memoirs of an Ex-Palladist, in which she gave a detailed account of her experiences with the 'Satanists' in Charleston. She had been, according to her own admission, Grand Mistress of the Temple and Grand Inspectress of the Palladium, a diabolic Masonic order, allegedly founded in Paris in 1737. She claimed to have been descended from Thomas Vaughan, a seventeenth century alchemist, and due to her hellish origin was chosen to be High-Priestess of Lucifer and the bride of Asmodeus. The book went on to describe the orgiastic Black Masses that were taking place at that very minute in south Carolina under the guise of Freemasonry".[31] This was all a hoax but the notion that Freemasonry was Satanic was very popular at that time in history. Obviously Schnoebelen wants us to believe it.

Schnoebelen goes on to accuse both Freemasonry and Wicca of being “pyramid schemes”[32] which soak up money from their followers. I think that you could more accurately apply that definition to the sort of churches that Schnoebelen and his like are associated to. This leads Schnoebelen into describing how “black magicians”[33] or “psychic vampires... such the life out of a person.”[34] He complains of how the energy in Masonic rituals “is going somewhere, friends, and it isn’t to God!”[35] He claims that in his “Witchcraft experience... often our leaders would just suck the energy right out of us. They were accomplished psychic vampires, whether they realized it or not. Someone, somewhere, is getting an awful lot of energy out of these thousands of lodge meetings. Ultimately, of course, it is Lucifer, who is delighted to receive it as worship!”[36] This nonsense about vampires is a recent addition to the tall tales that Schnoebelen has told over the years.

“The Masonic temple is a temple of Witchcraft!” Schnoebelen alleges, “Veiled within its symbols are the deities and even the working tools of Witchcraft! As has been shown, the square and compasses are representations of the generative organs—the ‘sacred altar’ of Witchcraft! The blazing star at the center of the lodge is the Witch’s pentagram, symbol of the god of Satanism, Set! The Letter ‘G’ stands for generativity, sexual potency.”[37] Of course the popular symbol of Satan is an inverted pentagram, which is not the blazing star that you see in a Masonic temple. “The true God of the Bible is not a sex organ!”[38] Schnoebelen complains.

The April 2002 issue of the Saints Alive newsletter was full of anti Pagan misinformation. Schnoebelen was not the only contributor. Decker contributed an article, “The F.A.T.A.L. Flaw.”[39] This article commences:

“Since 1868, thousands of decent Christian women have innocently taken part in pagan rites around an altar to the gods of witchcraft. They have been deceived into bowing the knee to gods so vile and ancient that even the pagan priests of Egypt blotted them out from their history. Women, who would blush with shame at the mention of Satanism, have been led to Satan's altar by people they trusted. Often their own husbands, who were given stewardship over them by Jesus Christ have violated that trust by leading them into paths of idolatry.”[40] The organization that Decker is referring to here is the Order of the Eastern Star, a Masonic order for women.

Decker describes “Lucifer” as “the acknowledged god of Masonry”[41] and thus considers these women to be submitting themselves “to the spiritual headship of Lucifer!”[42] Decker claims that “We have dealt with women who entered the Star and then found their nights troubled by strange dreams and demonic activity. As soon as they repented of their involvement in the Star and renounced their oaths in the name of Jesus, the oppression ceased.”[43] An interesting anecdote, but Decker doesn’t supply any names or details to allow us to corroborate his claims.

Predictably, Decker points to the inverted pentagram that is the symbol of the Order of the Eastern Star, claiming that this is evidence that it is Satanic. Decker goes on to claim that “this inverted pentagram is so deeply and unmistakably associated with Satanism that many witches fear to use it for fear of the demons they attract. This star is used to draw down the kingdom of Satan into manifestation on earth! (MAN, MYTH AND MAGIC, vol.16, p.2159).”[44] This is ludicrous: Wiccans aren’t afraid of this symbol. It is a common symbol for the second and/or third degree of initiation in some Wiccan traditions. If we were afraid of it, why would we use it for such a purpose? Wiccan’s don’t believe in demons, but Decker most certainly does. Decker concludes that “the person who designed the Eastern Star had more than a passing knowledge of black magic.”[45]

Like his protege Schnoebelen, Decker buys into the bombast about the Goat of Mendes. “This star can be drawn with the goat's-head inside, ” Decker states, “It then becomes the badge of the Satanist, the infamous Goat of Mendes! This goat's name is Baphomet, and it is the blasphemous god of the 12th Century Knights Templar (the ancestors of today's Freemasons).” Of course you could draw a lot of different animals in such a shape. I wonder what Decker and Schnoebelen would make of it if we drew a bunny in there?

Decker then uses another recycled argument in an attempt to suggest that there is evidence of sacrifice within the Order of the Eastern Star: The idea that abortion is actually ritual child sacrifice. “Are our children not being sacrificed every daythrough abortion?” Decker cries, “Are not the generations reared under the influence of the Star the first mothers to lay their babies willingly upon the altars of the abortion clinic by the millions? Are we not seeing the dividends of this pagan worship in the corruption of the very ideals of motherhood? Are we not witnessing the moral destruction of whole generations of children because of the mothers' participation in these ‘harmless rituals’?”[46]

Decker then goes off on a tangent about the mythical star that heralded the birth of Jesus, attempting to prove what quadrant of the sky it came from. The reason for this is that he wants to show that the Star in the Order’s title is not this star, but the star Sirius, which Decker claims to be connected to the Egyptian deity Set, whom he describes as “the satanic figure of the Egyptian religion.”[47] Actually the star Sirius was not related to Set at all. It was a symbol of the Goddess Sopdet (also known as Sothis). The rising of Sirius on 17 July was the signal for the ancient festival of Opet in Thebes. Decker mentions this festival, though not it’s name, claiming that “The Egyptians celebrated Sirius' ascendancy in the skies with horrible, obscene rituals! In fact, the rites of Sirius or Set were so debased that later rulers of Egypt defaced their temples and obelisks and tried to drive them from the land.”[48] Decker gives us no details, so we are left to guess what these “obscene rituals” consisted of.

In his article “Freemasonry: Is It Satan’s Door to America?”[49], Decker points out the many Masonic symbols left in Washington, DC, by the founding fathers of the US. He points out that many of the former presidents were Freemasons. This he perceives as a problem to his campaign of spiritual warfare. “Is there any wonder that the battle seems so difficult?” Decker whines, “How have such evils like greed and conspiracy within our national leadership been able to rock our nation? How has the Federal Judicial system become such a power cult that it is able to violate our human rights with total freedom? How have such Biblically opposed acts as abortion and homosexuality become acceptable and even welcomed practices? When did this people give up the right of freedom OF (and not from) Religion? When did we say it was OK for the open practice of Witchcraft and Satanism in our government and schools while Christianity is prohibited? When did humanism and the New Age philosophies replace Christianity as the Rock upon which this nation was built?”[50] Interesting argument: If the founders were Masonic, as Decker seems to be suggesting here, what makes him think that they intended for the nation to be as Decker envisions it? Decker accuses the founders of laying out “our National Capital as a giant Satanic Talisman, an open door to the demonic world of darkness. It is time now for us to take back what Satan would take away.”[51]Decker calls upon his readers to “do battle in spiritual places. Let's close that no longer secret door of the enemy in our national capital!”[52]

Not surprisingly, Decker is concerned about what is being taught to children in school. The April 2002 newsletter includes the article “The Public Schools Connection by” by Tom McKenney of Marion, KY.[53] It begins with a caption posing the question: “Why Are Freemasonry, the New Age and Mormonism So Determined To Promote Public Schools while Resisting Christian Schools, Private Academies and Home Schooling?”[54] McKenney interprets Masonic policies involving promoting and defending the public school system as a conspiracy to indoctrinate children in unbiblical beliefs. McKenney refers to the Order of DeMolay as a “prep school for the Lodge” and describes members of the DeMolay as wearing “black, hooded, Dracula style robes”. The DeMolay is the Masonic order for men under the age of 21.

As in the previous article by Decker, McKenney refers to the conspiratorial agenda Decker claims to have been set by Alice Bailey. McKenney speaks of secret Mormon documents concerning home schooling. He complains of how the State of Kentucky recently took control of education away from local authorities. McKenney noted how the new educational materials included the ancient African proberb: "It takes a whole village to raise a child." McKenney states that “this sounds anti-family and unscriptural to me . . . it is saying that the parents, the family alone, can't be trusted with the rearing of the child, and that we need the State's help.”[55] McKenney describes the resulting program as “un-American, unscriptural and anti-traditional in its goals and practices.”[56] He complains that “this time they were after total revision of our values, our social and political system; they were after the surrender of our personal freedom and privacy in the guise of concern for child welfare. George Orwell's 'Big Brother' had arrived, and most of us didn't even know he was coming!”[57] Sound paranoid? Wait to see what follows.

McKenney claims that this is part of an “overall push toward the New World Order, with its One-World, socialist government and its One-World, New Age religion”[58] and blames it on “secret planning and collusion by governors of key states, principally Bill Clinton [then] of Arkansas, Wallace Wilkinson of Kentucky, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Jim Hunt of North Carolina and Thomas Kean of New Jersey...”[59] He also blames “the Carnegie Foundation... the Rockefeller Foundation, the Ford Foundation and the teachers' unions ( the NEA [National Education Association] and the AFT [American Federation of Teachers]). The primary training grounds for education activist have been colleges of education in left-leaning universities, particularly Teachers' College of Columbia University.”[60] He goes on to list a host of other New Age figures he blames, and says that “Behind it all, thinly concealed, can be found the leaders of the Council on Foreign Relations with its international bankers and global manipulators, the very same people who control the key tax-exempt foundations. Many of these men are Freemasons; many are humanists. Not one is known to be an evangelical Christian.”[61] McKinney claims “These immensely powerful men (and women) really do believe that they alone know what is best for the World and that it is only right that they and their friends, the cultural elite, should rule the World. And they intend to rule the World, using the machinery of the United Nations.”[62] Of course it is transparently obvious that the real issue is that it is McKinney and his friends who “believe that they alone know what is best for the World.”[63]

McKinney goes on to rant about details of the new educational programs, claiming that “all children will be considered mentally ill at the outset and all will undergo psychotherapy; there will be a mental health clinic in each school.”[64] He believes that the teachers will use the children to spy out the parent’s beliefs and that “Parents with old fashioned ideas of right and wrong, Bible beliefs, etc. can have their children taken away by the State on the basis of emotional child abuse (spanking) in the home.”[65] McKinney accuses the State: “In the name of freeing the children to think for themselves, they will instead be indoctrinated with darkness and confusion, controlled by the State. Their parents, if they attempt to train them up in the way they should go, to rear them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, will be made criminals.”[66] “An entire generation, indoctrinated, watched and controlled by them, is what they must have in order to succeed, ”[67] McKinney claims. Of course, if you look closely at what people like this are saying, you quickly realize that they’d support a system of this sort in a moment if it involved indoctrination in what they consider to be Christian values.

The December 2002 Saints Alive newsletter featured an article by David Carrico of Followers of Jesus Christ Ministries in Evansville, IN: “Freemasonry and the 20th Century Occult Revival”.[68] Carrico lists influential people and organizations connected with what he describes as the occult and shows how many of these people were Freemasons. Carrico starts by quoting Anton LaVey: “...Masonic orders have contained the most influential men in many governments, and virtually every occult order has many Masonic roots.”[69] The individuals and organizations listed by Carrico include:

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and her Theosophical Society: Blavatsky founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. Carrico claims that Sirhan Sirhan requested a copy of her book Secret Doctrine and that Hitler had a copy of this book at his bedside. Carrico claims that Theosophists acted as counsellors to Hitler until his demise.

The Illuminati: You didn’t think that he’d make such a list without leaving this one out, did you? Carrico cites John Robinson’s 1798 book Proofs of a Conspiracy, in which Robinson described Masonry as a nursery school for the Illuminati. Robinson claimed some secret Masonic Lodges, calling themselves “the Illuminated”, were conspiring to abolish Christianity and overturn all civil government in Scotland. Given that we haven’t seen any sign of this supposed uprising in over 200 years I think that we can safely assume that this conspiracy, assuming it actually existed (which I doubt) was a failure.

Annie Besant: Besant took over as head of the Theosophical Society in 1907.

C.W. Leadbeater: An associate of Besant. Carrico states that “Some sources claim Leadbeater was a pedophile homosexual.”[70] Carrico’s endnote attributes this information to Jerry Johnston’s book The Edge of Evil, which I’ve spoken of earlier in this Witch Hunts series.[71]

Alice A. and Foster Bailey: Of course Bailey’s name came up twice earlier in our discussion of Decker’s web site. Bailey was a medium who wrote more than twenty books with the help of her spirit guide, the Tibetian master Dwjhal Khul. Carrico takes issue with many of Bailey’s statements. For example, Foster Bailey described Christ as “a living man today... actively working to help humanity to grow up spiritually, but not seeking or wanting to control us.”[72] Unlike Decker and his friends. Foster also stated that "The Christian doctrine that [Jesus] comes as a Christian to save us from hell and for some distant judgment date is a hangover from humanity's childhood days. He does not come to save us but to help us save ourselves, ...”[73] This clearly isn’t what Carrico and Decker have in mind.

Aleister Crowley: Carrico refers to Crowley as the “Father of Modern Satanism.”[74] Of course Crowley was a lot of things, but not a Satanist, nor did he claim to be. Carrico documents Crowley’s failed marriages, the death of his son in a ritual, and describes Crowley as “a homosexual and a drug addict that opposed Christianity with a hatred that was frightening.”[75] Carrico uses well known Crowley quotes such as “To me, every dirty act was simply a sacrament of sin, a passionately religious protest against Christianity, which was for me the symbol of all vileness, meanness, treachery, falsehood and oppression.”[76] I wonder if Crowley was thinking of people like Decker when he said that? Carrico reports that “While Crowley was working the rituals of the Book of Abramelin he became possessed with his lifelong spirit guide (demon), Aiwass. The demon Aiwass dictated the truly satanic book, The Book of Law, to Crowley.”[77]

O.T.O.: Ordo Templi Orientis and Theodor Reuss: You wouldn’t expect Carrico to mention Crowley and not the O.T.O. which Karl Kellner founded in 1895. Reuss became it’s leader after Kellner’s death. Carrico tells us how Crowley became the head of the British O.T.O. in 1912 and describes their practices as “amazingly disgusting.”[78] Carrico goes on to say that Crowley admired the Royal Arch degree of Freemasonry, stating: “It is perfectly understandable that this hater of Christianity would love the Royal Arch degree of Freemasonry. In this degree, Freemasons blaspheme the God of the Bible by uniting God's name with pagan gods. The secret word of the Royal Arch that Crowley is referring to is :Jah-Bul-On. The Jah represents Jehovah, Bul represents the pagan god Ba'al, and On represents the Egyptian sun god. It is no wonder Crowley's Satanic heart jumped for joy when he was able to blaspheme the God of the Bible by uniting the true God with the pagan god, Baal to whom human children were sacrificed.”[79] Carrico usus other famous quotes from Crowley in an attempt to substantiate this, including: “11. Worship me with fire & blood; worship me with swords & with spears. Let the woman be girt with a sword before me: let blood flow to my name. Trample down the Heathen; be upon them, o warrior, I will give you of their flesh to eat 12. Sacrifice cattle, little and big: after a child . . . 24. The best blood is of the moon, monthly: then the fresh blood of a child, or dropping from the host of heaven: then of enemies; t hen of priest or of the worshippers: last of some beast, no matter what. . . . 51. With my Hawk's head I peck at the eyes of Jesus as he hangs upon the cross.... 60. There is no law beyond Do what thou wilt.”[80] He also quotes from Crowley’s book Magic in Theory and Practice: “For the highest spiritual working one must accordingly choose that victim which contains the greatest and purest force. A male child of perfect innocence and high intelligence (f.2) is the most satisfactory and suitable victim. . . .' But the bloody sacrifice, though more dangerous, is more efficacious; and for nearly all purposes human sacrifice is the best. (f.2. ....In the Sacrifice during Invocation, however, it may be said without fear of contradiction that the death of the victim should coincide with the supreme invocation.)”[81] This is typical shocking Crowley stuff, but beside the point. The Freemasons don’t engage in blood sacrifice.

Rosicrucian Society: Carrico correctly states that this order gave birth to another secret society, The Golden Dawn. Carrico states that “World renown [sic] witches, Janet and Stewart Farrar, authors of A Witches Bible Compleat, give credit to the Freemasons of the Golden Dawn for the modern cult explosion that we are experiencing today.”[82]

Dr. William Wynn Westcott: Westcott was a London coroner who had difficulties when his membership in the Golden Dawn became public in the early 1900s.

S.L. MacGregor Mathers: One of the original founders of the Golden Dawn. Carrico claims that “Mathers took Aleister Crowley and taught him what he needed to know to go on to become the father of modern Satanism. All did not remain peaceful between Mathers and Crowley and as the rivalry increased they actually engaged in a war of Black Magic. Mathers would receive instructions from 'Secret Chiefs' whom Mathers claimed were human beings with superhuman powers. ”[83]

Arthur Edward Waite: One of the influential early members of the Golden Dawn. Carrico reports that “The Book of Black Magic by Waite contains terrible conjurations given in the name of Satan and has spells to conjure Lucifer.”[84] The correct title of Mather’s book is The Book of Black Magic and Ceremonial Magic. Clearly Carrico has never read this book by Waite: There is not one mention of Lucifer or Satan in the entire text. Most of the names that are listed there are names of Jehovah and/or angels.

Eliphas Levi: Carrico claims that Levi passed on a “Luciferian doctrine” to those that followed him. This isn’t surprising, as Carrico quotes Carl Raschke’s assessment of Levi: We’ve encountered Raschke’s book Painted Black repeatedly throughout my Witch Hunts series and you’ll recognize this Luciferian concept from that book. Carico shows us the well known drawing of Baphomet from Levi’s book Transcendental Magic. Carrico admits that Levi did not consider Baphomet to be an entity, but as a force. Carrico then gives us Anton LaVey’s description of Baphomet: “The symbol of Baphomet was used by the Knights Templar to represent Satan. Through the ages this symbol has been called by many different names. Among these are: The Goat of Mendes, The Goat of a Thousand Young. The Black goat, The Judas Goat, and perhaps most appropriately, The Scapegoat . Baphomet represents the Powers of Darkness combined with the generative fertility of the goat.”[85] LaVey may interpret it this way, but this isn’t correct. I debunked the nonsense about the Goat of Mendes and Baphomet earlier. Anton LaVey adopted Baphomet as a symbol in the form of an inverse pentagram with a goat's head superimposed on it, surrounded by the Hebrew letters lamed, vau, yod, tau and nun (LVYTN). These letters spell the Hebrew rendering of the name Leviathan. The name Baphomet also appears as one of the Infernal names listed in Anton LaVey's Satanic Bible and in the Black Mass and Satanic Baptism in his Satanic Rituals. Clearly LaVey has bought into the myths about Baphomet being a Satanic entity as strongly as people like Decker and Carrico have.

Albert Pike: Pike was the Grand Commander of the Scottish Rite of Freemasonry from 1859-1891. Carrico accuses Pike of passing on the “Luciferian doctrine” he learned from Levi.

Using this list and the statement by the Farrars earlier, Carrico goes on to emphasize the influence of Freemasonry on Wicca. Carrico points out how Gardner incorporated elements of Masonic ritual into his first Book of Shadows. Carrico points out that both Gerald Gardner and Alex Sanders were Freemasons. Carrico describes Sanders as “a black magician”[86] and claims that Alexandrian Wicca “is noted for its use of sexual intercourse in the initiation rituals.”[87] Clearly Carrico has never seen an Alexandrian initiation: There isn’t any sexual intercourse required at all in these initiations.

The conclusion that Carrico arrives at after listing all these loosely connected pieces of information and misinformation is that “Freemasonry is truly an organization that deceives good men. Many honorable men who are in the lodge actually believe that they belong to a Christian fraternal organization and nothing could be farther from the truth.”[88]

The September 2003 Saints Alive in Jesus newsletter showed us that they were still at it with the article “Halloween: The Truth Behind the Mask” by Jason Decker.[89] Jason claims that “The Feast of Samhain was a dreaded night, a night in which great bonfires were lit to Samana the lord of death, the dark Aryan god who was known as the Grim Reaper.”[90] This is balderdash. Samhain was a Celtic festival and it wasn’t named for a “Aryan god” named Samana. The Celts did not have a God named Samana at all. If this story sounds familiar, you won’t be surprised to hear that Jason then reveals his source as none other than Bill Schnoebelen, who Jason describes as having been “a warlock in the Church of Satan, a priest in the satanic brotherhood and the high priest of a Wicca coven for almost 15 years.”[91] We know for a fact that Schnoebelen was never a member of the Church of Satan. Jason quotes Schnoebelen as saying “that he and his fellow Wiccans would supposedly call up dead spirits such as Jesus, George Washington, King Arthur, Merlin, Aleister Crowley (a Satanist who called himself "The Great Beast") who would appear and talk in normal like conversations on Halloween during their ceremonies. He said that they used to cast spells on the countryside giving the spirits access to possess whoever they pleased. They especially cast spells on the children going about ‘Trick or Treating’.”[92] This is preposterous: Such activities would be a clear violation of the Wiccan Rede. Jason reports that Bill Schnoebelen told him “someone in the coven would often dress up as a demon/god or as Samana the prince of darkness (otherwise known as Set or Satan) and become possessed by the personality of the represented beast.”[93]

“Today all of this is invisible, just the way Wiccans prefer it, ” Jason claims, “Quiet, so they can be left alone. But you don't have to look far for their influence on the spirit of Halloween. Today the spirit of Halloween is seen in the horror movies usually released in association with Halloween's horror. Look at Halloween I, II and III; Friday the 13th series, Nightmare on Elm Street, or Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Even on TV., there's The Howling, and any number of slasher, bloody-murder and terror flicks you see. These are typical of what our society today accepts as alight and in the spirit of Halloween. It reveals the dark spirit behind the masks of the Halloween of today.”[94] Of course all these movies present a terrifying and inaccurate view of Witches invented by people like Decker: They in no way represent how Wiccans celebrate or regard the Sabbat of Samhain.

Jason claimed that the Druids believed that black cats were “dreaded as human beings changed into animals by evil powers. That is the reason they wove them into wicker baskets and put them in the Samhain fires. Cats often serve witches as familiars (spirit helpers). Their ‘magic' eyes led people to believe that cats were seers, with strong mediumistic powers.”[95] This business about familiars is Inquisitional myth. There is no historical evidence to support claims of Witches or Druids casting cats in wicker baskets into fires at any time.

Jason concludes by stating that “This whole idea of kids dressing up like ghosts and vampires is actually a mask worn by Satan to make reality seem like the ridiculous. Once we look at this dark side of Halloween as foolish, we accept the evil as a common cultural tradition and find ourselves blinded by spiritual ignorance to the truth.”[96]

The problem with Jason’s conclusion, indeed the problem with Ed Decker’s Saints Alive in Jesus, is that one reviews the content of their literature one finds that their conception of the truth is quite different from mine. Decker relies heavily on documented frauds like Schnoebelen in order to shore up his arguments. It is Decker and his associates who are “blinded by spiritual ignorance”.

Location: Surrey, British ColumbiaWebsite: http://www.officersofavalon.comBio: Kerr Cuhulain the author of this article, is known to the mundane world as Detective Constable Charles Ennis. Ennis, a former child abuse investigator, is the author of several articles on child abuse investigation that appeared in Law & Order Magazine. Better known to the Pagan community by his Wiccan name, Kerr Cuhulain, Ennis was the first Wiccan police officer to go public about his beliefs 28 years ago. Kerr is now the Preceptor General of Officers of Avalon. Kerr went on to write four books: The Law Enforcement Guide to Wicca (Horned Owl Publishing), Wiccan Warrior and Full Contact Magick: A Book of Shadows for the Wiccan Warrior. (Llewellyn Publications), as well as a book based on this series: Witch Hunts: Out of the Broom Closet (Spiral Publishing).

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